Squid can tweak how their genes express proteins on the fly.

The title kind of sucked, but the concept is really cool, I had no idea it happened in nature:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150212114327.htm

TLDR: Squid can edit their RNA on the fly, which controls which proteins get made.  This effectively allows for one set of genes to make a bunch more proteins that would otherwise be possible.

Let us review.

So long ago when we first learned about evolution and genetics, Darwin wrote a paper about evolution through the inheritance of traits.  The basic idea was that genes passed down from mom and dad determined if an organism was a good fit for its environment.  If it was a good fit, it had lots of kids, bad fits failed to reproduce.  Over time random mixing of genes (via sex) and the occasional mutation, would result in newer organisms, some of which were more fit.  DNA is a chemical in the cells of the body.  It stores all the information about how to make you, and how to keep you operating.  It works by splitting in half life a zipper, making some RNA, and the RNA chemicals make proteins, which are the building blocks of you!  (I am grossly over simplifying)

But we know so much more now.

 - We discovered genes swapped back and forth between X chromosomes, adding even more mixing than simply sperm mixing with egg.

 - We discovered the viruses that can make us sick by forcing us to replicate their genetic code, can also splice themselves into our DNA.

 - We discovered the entire field of epigenetics, the idea that chemicals called methyl groups would wrap around the genome and prevent it from expressing RNA.  Using the epigenome an organism can silence certain genes and prevent them from coding proteins.  For example, if a virus inserted its code into our genes, we could silence those genes and bring redundant backups into use.

So the latest in this article, is that squid can edit their RNA on the fly.  I had no idea this happened. The title stinks, but the idea is genes have DNA that encodes RNA that encodes protein, and sometimes the RNA is changed in a specific way, so the proteins get made a little funny. But in squid, around 60% of the protein is sometimes made funny, and it makes us wonder why. This cannot be on accident, but how does it work and how the organism benefit from it.

Good stuff.